Wang Chong had catered to their pleasures with this gift.
It's fine as long as I got them the right thing.
Wang Chong inwardly smiled in understanding at this sight.
He had requested Yang Hongchang to send these two Imperial Persian cats from Talas in the Western Regions. Yang Hongchang had worked the Silk Road for many years and knew quite a few Arab merchants. While it was hard for others to obtain Persian cats, it was no problem for Yang Hongchang. Arabs were natural merchants, and as long as there was enough money, they could even get Imperial Persian cats.
After a while, after apparently remembering something, Bai Siling took the white Persian cat out of the cage and stood up, turning curiously to Wang Chong. "That's right. Wang Chong, aren't Persian cats very delicate? And they're not used to the climate of the Great Tang. How did you manage to get them?"
"Give me ten thousand taels and I'll tell you the answer," Wang Chong teased.
"Bastard!"
Bai Siling's brows flared and she immediately seemed ready to give him a beating.
"Haha, okay, don't hit me. I'll talk," Wang Chong said, smiling. "Persian cats like cleanliness. You must promptly clean their cages, and they have to be exceptionally clean. If the cage isn't clean, they won't eat. In addition, you will occasionally have to give them some grass juice."
Persian cats enjoyed cleanliness even more than humans. From a certain perspective, they had a sort of mysophobia. Not many people knew this, so the fact that many of the merchants selling these cats were filthy and didn't take very much care of the cats meant that many of the Persian cats would die.
If one knew this trait of the cats, selling them became much easier.
After handling the living arrangements for the two cats, Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong also settled their clan guards down, adding them to the garrison of the City of Steel.
On this excursion to Wushang, Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong had brought no small number of experts with them—their combined numbers exceeded five hundred. This was formidable support.
The strength of the support from the two clans spoke for itself.
After taking a stroll on the city walls, Bai Siling finally couldn't hold back her question. "Oh, that's right. Wang Chong, you've prepared everything here, so why aren't you putting everything into constructing the city instead of building those houses and inns?"
"Exactly. This city is too big. Such a big place will require a massive effort and years to build, but why don't you seem in a hurry?" Zhao Yatong voiced her agreement.
While inspecting the premises with Wang Chong, the two had gradually begun to notice something strange. After the foundation and the first level of the City of Steel had been completed, the construction speed had clearly slowed, with many of the workers being transferred to work on the inns, restaurants, and tea houses meant for the merchants. This seemed very strange.
And Wang Chong, the lord of this city, didn't seem worried at all. The pair found this very bizarre.
The pair weren't intending to apply any pressure on Wang Chong, but they also had to explain things to their clans. The pair had come with two purposes. The first was to probe Wang Chong for what he was up to, and the second was to find out for their clans how the progress on the city was going.
After all, the Zhao Clan and Bai Clan had invested a great deal of money in this City of Steel, contributing their own blood, sweat, and tears.
"Haha, a workman needs good tools to do their job well. Relax; this city will finish construction much faster than you can imagine."
Wang Chong grinned.
Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong couldn't hide their thoughts from him. The two had appeared so distressed when they had asked their questions that he immediately knew that they had been compelled to ask them.
Every person had their own hardships, and it was already impressive that Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong had continued to help him up to this stage. Wang Chong naturally wouldn't make things difficult for them.
"Moreover, you can tell your clans that the Zhao Clan and the Bai Clan can expect to make far more profit than anticipated. In addition, the city will finish construction in a month," Wang Chong said.
"Ah?!"
Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong looked in stupefaction at Wang Chong. It wasn't that they didn't believe Wang Chong, but it was clear that this City of Steel was still an embryo, thousands of li from the finish line.
Moreover, building a city was such a time-consuming task that pulling it off in a month would be a huge achievement, and Wang Chong's city was far larger than normal. Even as Wang Chong's close friends, the pair felt like completing the city in a month was still only possible in a fairytale.
An odd smile appeared on Wang Chong's face as he looked at their questioning gazes, but he did not explain.
Facts spoke louder than words. After one month, the two would not believe him to be exaggerating. Moreover…
When that time comes, probably even Geshu Han and Fumeng Lingcha will be given a big shock!
Wang Chong looked up at the sky and inwardly chuckled.
Even though the construction of the City of Steel was in full swing, Fumeng Lingcha, Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, and An Sishun had done nothing more than send a few scouts to watch. This was rather abnormal.
Wang Chong had a keen understanding of their plans. Unfortunately for them, they would never have the chance to realize them.
……
Time slowly passed, and ten days later, the second batch of fifty thousand workmen and experts from the great clans arrived. The second wave of modules for the City of Steel also smoothly arrived from the various sword smiths and shops of the Great Tang's prefectures.
On that same night, when all the watching eagles and birds had dispersed, and all those scouts and Arab and Characenian spies disguised as merchants had left, Wang Chong finally began his plan.
Rumble!
The earth began to quake, and with Wang Chong's order, the flame of a furnace shot out from the northeast corner of the city, quickly followed by a second, third, fourth… Thousands of furnaces blazed to life, spreading from the northeast corner to every part of the city.
So fierce were the flames that the area in and around the City of Steel was as bright as day.
"Begin!"
On the southern wall, the stern Zhang Shouzhi, standing next to Wang Chong, swung down his arm. Boom! In that instant, a massive crashing and clattering of metal came from all around.
The one hundred thousand workmen and all the soldiers responsible for defense put down their duties and began to help with the construction of the walls. From Zhang Shouzhi's arrival at Wushang to now, a mountain of modules for the City of Steel had been gathered.
Once the foundation and first level were completed, these modules had never been touched, the majority of the workmen being tasked with constructing the restaurants, inns, and tea houses inside the city. Now, however, as if everything had already been planned out, the workmen began to move these modules and attach them together.
Clang!
The first hammer fell, sending sparks flying into the night. Tens of thousands of modules for the City of Steel began to be erected. By this time, all the workmen were familiar with the diagrams and the methods of construction. Now was the time to display their knowledge.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The banging of metal shook the heavens. Under the light of the furnaces, the steel modules were like fish scales, neatly and tidily coming together, guided by some sort of law.
The one hundred thousand workmen worked as a cohesive unit, all of them working together like a smooth and precise machine. With a flabbergasting speed, they constructed the city.
This vast and magnificent construction process and the formidable ability to plan and manage these proceedings left Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong with their mouths agape.
"Impossible!"
Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong were both from great clans, clans with extremely long and storied hist
ories. In terms of strength and resources, their clans far surpassed any of the other so-called 'great clans' of the capital.
Coming from this kind of background, Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong had very open minds, but not even they could have imagined such a grandiose sight. More than one hundred thousand people were working as a united whole, with even more discipline than the army.
Moreover, Wang Chong's method of constructing a city was completely different from the commonly accepted one.
Chapter 718: One-Night Miracle II
Chapter 718: One-Night Miracle (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Siling, is what I'm looking at real?" Zhao Yatong muttered, her eyes filled with a deep shock.
"I wanted to ask this question to you." The shock in Bai Siling's eyes was not one bit less than Zhao Yatong's.
As the pair watched on, the tens of thousands of modules were just about to finish one level, and not even fifteen minutes had passed. Their understanding of city construction and engineering had been completely overturned.
"Ready!"
"Team two, get ready! Pour the solder! Quickly!"
"Everyone else, stand aside! Keep your distance! Crane!"
“Begin to connect the modules!"
……
Shouts came from all over the city. The more than one hundred thousand people had been divided into nearly one thousand teams. Each team was led by an experienced craftsman, and they all worked together, not interfering with each other and coordinating their duties.
Anyone who saw this sight would feel a deep shock, but what was being revealed here was a concept and skill for construction that was completely beyond this era!
Although it was late at night, the City of Steel was abuzz with activity, but nobody except those within knew what was going on.
As Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong stood on the city walls in the blustery wind, they gazed at the distant Wang Chong and Zhang Shouzhi with a strange light in their eyes.
A focused man was incredibly alluring. At this moment, Wang Chong was standing unmoving on the wall, all his attention on the construction. However, his incredible foresight, his commanding air, and his eternal grasp of the overall situation had left deep impressions on these two women, leaving them greatly moved.
For a moment, the two felt like there was nothing in the world that Wang Chong could not accomplish!
"I understand. He was intentionally slowing the construction speed so he could leave those people numb from shock!" Zhao Yatong's eyes fluctuated with emotion. "He was waiting for them to put down their guard, and also for the steel modules and workmen to arrive!"
"Mm. He fooled everyone!!"
Bai Siling didn't show any sign of blame on her face as she said these words. On the contrary, there was a deep pride and satisfaction, as if she had been the one who did all this.
"This little bastard!"
This night was bound to be a night of suffering for many factions.
……
Dawn broke in the east as the morning sun rose over the horizon.
Just like usual, the galloping of hooves heralded the arrival of the first horse as it neared Wang Chong's City of Steel. The man atop it had been repeating this surveillance for more than a month, so he was extremely familiar with the procedure.
"Building a city is such an exhausting and time-consuming task that not even one or two years will be enough. I really don't know when I'll be able to stop this constant repetition of going back and forth," the rider muttered to himself.
Although observation was a scout's duty and he didn't have anything to complain about, inevitably, this place was not the battlefield. Every day, he would go to the same place, observe the same things, give the same report… This sort of day repeating over and over would make even the most devoted scout begin to feel irritated.
"…I can only hope that after a while, I can get transferred elsewhere. Even if it's the front lines, it'd be much better than this boring job! I certainly don't want to waste two years here!"
While muttering to himself, the rider urged his horse forward, quickening his pace toward the observation point.
The City of Steel was under very heavy guard, with several thousand soldiers assembled there. There was also a high chance that many of the elites who had participated in the war of the southwest were amongst this number. These were true experts, and any conflict with them would lead to a great deal of trouble.
As a result, all the scouts maintained a considerable distance to avoid any conflicts. In any case, scouting and observation had never required running right up to the enemy force.
There were many people observing this area, and it could already be considered the heart of the empire. The Goguryeons, Turks, Western Regioners, Tibetans, Arabs, Characenians… all of them had come, dressed in disguises that made them seem like ordinary travelers.
If this were the heartland of the Great Tang, this would be unacceptable, but since this was Qixi, near the Western Regions and at the confluence of Ü-Tsang and the Western Turkic Khaganate, it was perfectly normal.
The large number of people meant that one had to come early to pick their spot. This particular rider had chosen a low hill. This coupled with the height of his warhorse made it an excellent vantage point for surveillance.
But when that rider was heading toward his usual hill, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.
A mountainous silhouette was gradually appearing before his eyes.
"This is?"
The rider's eyes widened in astonishment. He had been observing this area for more than a month and was now extremely familiar with the nearby terrain of Wushang. The area that Wang Chong had chosen for his fief was rather flat and lacking in prominent outcrops.
The most prominent geographic feature was probably these low hills. He certainly didn't recall any mountains.
"What's going on here? Am I seeing things?" the rider wondered to himself in shock, but after a few moments, he decided to raise his head and continue. At that moment, he saw the true appearance of that 'mountain', a sight that he would not soon forget.
In the light of the morning sun, a massive, grandiose, and imposing City of Steel had appeared over the horizon. Unlike the City of Steel he usually saw, the walls of this city were now more than six meters tall, the height of three adult men.
Those gleaming metal walls were smooth and steep, appearing to be a single whole and as immovable as a mountain. And in the light of the morning sun, the rider could see smoke continuing to rise from the city as the one hundred thousand workmen labored to make the walls even higher, thicker, sturdier!
"This… this is impossible!"
The rider instantly became agitated, his eyes flying open in shock and awe.
He had been gone for only a single night, and a massive city with walls more than six meters high had appeared out of thin air!
One night!
Just one night!
And this City of Steel with six-meter walls could now be considered a basic defensive fortification, able to fend off warhorses and arrows. The only weakness was against an enemy that had come with siege ladders and could simply scale the walls.
But six meters!
This number was practically miraculous!
In a single night, the City of Steel had undergone a complete transformation. Right now, even if an army attacked, Wang Chong could still man the walls and hold the fort. And even more absurd was that these walls were being strengthened. The rider could predict that in a little more time, they would be nine-meter walls!
"No! I… I have to report this to Milord!"
The rider's heart chilled and his entire body shivered. In the space of a single night, a six-meter-tall City of Steel had appeared in Wushang. As a scout, he had committed a grave dereliction of duty.
"Hyah!"
The horse galloped off as the rider set off in the direction he had just come from.
Behind him, the scouts and spies from the other factions had also just arrived. The neighing of horses seemed to indicate the extreme alarm they felt.
"This… this is impossible!"
"How could there be something like this! It's impossible for anyone to do this!"
"One night! One night!! …Just how did they do it? Something must have gone wrong; I must have missed something."
Cries of alarm came from behind the returning scout. It was evident that he was not the only one alarmed.
……
Bang!
A palm slammed against a metal fretwork table. For a moment, all of the Qixi Protectorate headquarters shook as if on the verge of collapsing.
"What did you say? That brat managed to build a city more than two zhang tall in a single night?"
Fumeng Lingcha's bellows of rage thundered through the entire protectorate headquarters.
"…Did you think I would believe that? Have you lost your mind? You dare to speak such nonsense in front of me!"
When he received the scout report, Fumeng Lingcha's first reaction was disbelief. Building a city could not be speedily done. This was impossible! Not even the master engineer Lu Ban reborn would be able to accomplish such a feat.
"Milord, this subordinate speaks nothing but the truth. That youngest son of the Wang Clan truly did manage to erect walls two zhang high in a single night! That city is still standing there…"
The rider kneeling down below was fearful and panicked. Before he could finish speaking, a furious wave of energy blasted him out of the hall.
"Bastard thing! Look again!"
Fumeng Lingcha's rage could tear the sky apart. All the soldiers of the Qixi Protectorate headquarters trembled in fear. Despite their years of service under him, they had never seen Fumeng Lingcha so furious!
Gallop!
A trail of dust rose outside the Qixi Protectorate headquarters as that rider that had been blasted out of the hall mounted his horse and galloped off for the City of Steel.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 480
